So Fresh, So Clean (c) Outkast

When I get a field markup from a male and it's extremely neat and precise ...

Highly highly appreciated :)

And a "Heinz 57" Canadian male at that!

For some reason many North American men have chicken scratch for writing and it's always been a mystery to me. There have been times where I've actually been able to pinpoint someone's ethnicity from his handwriting alone.  For instance, Philippine-bred Filipino males have beautiful "drafting standard" writing.  My dad included :)

Ok back to work. Was so refreshed that I just had to put that out there!

Warm Fuzzies :)

I was doing my regular late night trolling for groceries when something happened that made me warm and fuzzy inside.

I was waiting in line.  The pleasant Filipina lady at the front was exasperated to find she had left her wallet in the car. And what did the guy in front of me do?

No, he didn't roll his eyes.

No, he didn't sigh and mumble swears under his breath.

He paid for her groceries!!

She frantically ran to her car and back to get her wallet so she could pay him back, but he wouldn't take anything.  She finally forced him to take a twenty.  She was extremely grateful.

All of us in line couldn't help but smile.  A lot.  The cashier too.

When things like this happen, I want to hug Edmonton. 

Randomness: sometimes, internet searches take me on a detour and I discover an inspiring woman.  For instance, I was reading a IEEE article on Edison inventing the technical term "bug" and ended up finding out about Grace Hopper, computer scientist extraordinaire and inventor of the compiler in programming.  Plus she served in the Navy.  IN THE FRIGGIN 1950s!! What female does that in the fifties?!?!  An amazing groundbreaking one.

She retired with rank of commander at 60, but served again and retired involuntarily when she was 79.

Kudos to you Ms. Hopper :)

Going Green.

Pros:

-an ice cream truck comes to the office on Wednesdays now

-we get free ice cream courtesy of the company

-a bunch of office folks feel like kids again

Cons:

-extra calories

-I don't do dairy if I can help it, so I go for a popsicle instead

-the popsicle is green

Me thinks I should keep a toothbrush in my desk at work.

Oh well, at least I burned the popsicle off with a couple of dance classes and a mini-practice after work.  The first class was quite intense and parts of my ribcage that I didn't realize existed got sore.  The legs are a little mad at me right now.   But I'll be going to bed with chanting and drums in my head tonight :)

Oh - I read a Ryan Gosling's "A Tiny Cage is Not a Life" article in the Globe and Mail and thought he was vegan for a short while ("Maybe male vegans aren't really unicorns after all!  Is this what all those hey-girl memes are about?").  Turns out he's not a vegan but he is an animal rights activist.  I can definitely dig that.  Especially since I still have yet to meet a male vegan in my social circles anyway.  Or even female vegan.  Female vegetarians, yes.  Male vegetarians, yes.  Vegans?  Former vegans that are female, yes.  Male vegans?  The unicorns of Alberta.

Hello, Planet Tired.

Guess who had her first Afro Cuban performance? 

Si.
Moi.
Talaga!
Yay!

Plus I got to share the moment with loved ones :)

Next one up is Calgary Expo Latino.

Quite a happy opportunity for me, especially considering just even earlier this year I would've never guessed I'd be able to perform such a beautiful and soulful dance form.

For a little while I thought the performance wasn't going to happen because out of nowhere, it started raining really hard.  And then HAILING.  In August.  I was walking to my car and getting pelted in the head with hail for the first time (I know, eerie that it hasn't happened before in my Canadian life).  This was just about an hour before the performance was scheduled.

But sure enough Alberta-style, the weather quickly switched back to clear and sunny and the Latin Festival was back in full swing. 

I finally managed to tire myself out this weekend.  Apparently the price of my ticket to Planet Tired consists of consecutive weeknights of four hours of sleep and at least three hours of sweaty activity each night.  Even though I finally managed to get a decent amount of sleep last night I'm still deliciously sluggish on this double-practice Sunday.  I even had a nap just now while trying to catch up on laundry.  Ahhhh.  So. Good. To. Take. It. Slow.  I've been bouncing around even more than usual lately: working overtime but still able to dance doubletime or swing kettlebells in the evening.  No tiredness until yesterday. Yup, I still definitely 'blame' veggie power.

I'm trying to round up enough energy to cook my lunches for the rest of the week.  I'm thinking low fat vegan Pad Thai but in rice form since it's too much effort at the moment to get out of my condo and buy noodles.  It's nice to at least have the base ingredients handy in my kitchen (insert moment of pride here).  Hopefully almond butter is a sufficient substitute for peanut butter!

Mind Farts
-i don't think steel cut oats are friends with my intestines.  or maybe i don't cook them well enough.  either way, i'm staying away from now on!  a breakfast that takes more than 10 mins to make won't work for me anyhoo
-amazing local vegetarian discoveries: fake ginger beef on rice at La Pagode and fake lemongrass chicken on vermicelli at Veggie Garden
-oh, and Costco sells a yummy rice-based Gardenburger as well - who knew?!
-met my new financial adviser this weekend.  the Ethiopian accent is pretty, precise and sharp.  the rolling of the R's and the pointy T's?  scrrrrrumptious to listen to
-grew some balls and agreed to see the Conjuring with my sister (only because Rotten Tomatoes said it was going to be worth it).  spent half the movie staring down at my lap and still got freaked out.  sheesh - it's so much worse when it's based on a true story!
-got to see a famous Cuban salsa star and his band perform here in good ol' Edmonton (the very same one I got to meet in Cuba back in November).  it was sweaty and amazing, as predicted, just like a mini slice of being at Casa de la Musica in Havana again

Sucker(s) for Punishment.

I *heart* animals. 

 

Even if I don't really know what they are.  I think the one above is a gopher.  

Panorama is pretty!  Rained a bit - not enough to ruin the wedding fortunately - but it was nice to do not much else but celebrate and drink and eat baked ketchup chips (which is what I lured the gopher with).

There was a gondola right by my room.  I discovered it while getting ready in the morning. Seeing people fly by in the mirror reflection is always a good wake up.

Speaking of wake up calls, the couple that lives across from me is having a domestic dispute again.  She seriously needs a reality wake up call.  From the sounds of the fighting, it seems like she is supporting a deadbeat boyfriend who cheats on her while she's away working her butt off.  Fail.

I'm toe stretching again.  My toes are on a whole new level today.  My teacher bent them the complete opposite of the way toes naturally bend (the ballerina way) at practice today and that was super killer.  At times, the suffering actually made me nauseated.  But maybe I'm a sucker for punishment, because I am still fascinated with Afro Cuban dance and so I keep on. 

Mind Farts

-the Oatmeal is one guy?!?  and hilarious and a dog-lover :)  he wins in my books!

-oh Cuban rum ... you never fail to soothe

-a talented dancer had to quit dance training because of her jealous significant other.  le sigh.  that makes me sad.  it's such a waste!  since when did ultimatums = love?  i understand that ultimatums are at times necessary ("please give up crack cocaine"), but i don't know about asking someone to give up something he/she loves to do - especially if it doesn't harm anybody.  makes me grateful that i don't have to feel guilty for my hobbies

-beans and rice make me happy

-so do veggie maki rolls

Toe Stretch!

Yum. Cauliflower 65.  My favourite dish at Taste of Edmonton this year.  Yay for veggie dish hunting!  The story behind the "65": this was appetizer number 65 at a popular restaurant in Mumbai.  It's like an Indian sweet and sour dish.  I haven't checked out many Edmonton festivals this summer.  Missed K-Days and will be missing Heritage this weekend because I'll be in Panorama for a wedding.  I really should be packing right now.

I am currently stretching my toes for the sake of my poor feet.  This week included kettlebells, double practices and workshops and social dancing. Double practices mean I have been training with an Afro-Cuban group in addition to my "regular salsa" group.  It's awesome - I've loved Afro-Cuban dance ever since I first saw Cubans do it.  Difficult though.  Even the warm up with the group is difficult.  It is one of the toughest physical things I've done.  Talk about pushing limits!  There's some ballet and contemporary thrown into the mix (which I've never done) and my respect for ballet and contemporary dancers just shot up even more.  If I was ever looking for a new challenge, this is it.

I did end up getting a copy of Chimamanda Adichie's first book Purple Hibiscus and it was a beautiful read, just as I expected (despite hyping her up in my head so much).  The writing is so simple and unpretentious yet it captures so much.      

I also read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg and enjoyed it.  Partially because it's so relevant to me.  Partially because I can feel her energy jumping off the pages.  One might take a look a the book and think "oh, a powerful woman leader trying to lift up other women" but it is so much more than that.  That's the thing - feminists don't have to strictly be angry women who refuse to shave or wear bras (even though I thoroughly respect that).  Being a feminist female means that you want to be able to do your own thing without being held back or judged.  And yes, of course a man can also be feminist.

Unfortunately, men can get judged for being modern thinkers too.  Just because you are okay with being the primary stay-at-home person doesn't make you any less manly. 

Maybe you can't have it all, but in this day and age I believe it is possible to have a whole lot :)

Says the woman who is packing and toe stretching after 2AM.

Mind Farts
-i'm in love with Allen Stone's voice.  i'm still amazed that he looks like a regular white dude in a toque
-there are some lazy ass engineers out there!  fortunately not at my office, but i recently encountered one that made me wonder how the heck he even made it through engineering school
-just because a man can dance doesn't mean he's less manly either.  shirtless professional dancer vs. shirtless beer belly ... mmhmm ... just saying
-baked ketchup chips nom nom nom nom